Albany Airport is one of the oldest airports in the U.S. The city’s first airport was built in 1908 over an old polo field and was little more than a runway. In 1909 the airport was moved to Westerlo Island into a town called Bethleham, a small town within Albany, and was named after World War I pilot Quentin Roosevelt. Glen Curtis won a ten thousand dollar prize in 1910, which was quite a bit of money back then, for sustaining a flight from Albany to New York. Charles Lindbergh, James Doolittle, and Amelia Earhart all visited and made use of the airport during its early years.

The airport has seen a lot of ups and downs over the last century. At one point in time, just before World War II erupted, the airport was closed and under threat to be torn down. Luckily, that didn’t happen and the airport hasn’t been closed again since 1940.

Albany International Airport Car Rental…

The airport is home to six car rental agencies and has an off-site deal with one, Thrifty. The six on-site companies include Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, Enterprise, and National. All six have counters within the baggage claim area where they are set up like bank tellers. All rental cars, except for the off-site company, can be picked up from the parking garage that sits right across from the terminal, and you can access the garage by walking right across the road, or you can access the enclosed, elevated walkway (see picture above). Thrifty can be reached by way of a free shuttle service that is only a free courtesy call away at all times.

Albany Airport Directions to Downtown…

The airport is just outside of Albany, so be prepared to do a bit of driving to get to downtown. You’ll start by leaving the airport either one of two ways, via Airport Access Rd or Albany International Airport Rd. Both spill into County Road 155, where you will need to take a left. Follow County Road 155 – a little less than a mile - until you come across an I-87 on-ramp and hop onto I-87 South. You’re going to follow I-87 South quite a ways until the Highway 5 exit that travels all the way South to the city center. The exit that you will want is 2E. You will see the overhead green signs directing you all the way to the city center.

Albany Airport Car Rental Return…

If you’ll reverse the directions above, you’ll find it pretty easy to get back to the airport. Take Highway 5 North to I-87 and travel North (or East) on it. Then take Exit 4 onto 155 and travel North towards the airport. When you return your rental car, you will return it to the same garage that you left from. There is one difference, however. You will return the vehicle into the entrance past the terminal. In other words, drive past the terminal and exit left into the parking garage on the North end. Signs are very well-posted from the time you get on the airport premises, to time you drop off the car, so it’s not too difficult.

Before you take the rental back, however, you should probably re-fuel just as close to the airport as possible. We don’t know of any gas stations on the airport grounds, so we recommend that you find a station on your way back somewhere. If you’re following the above directions back to the airport, then you’ll multiple stations on Highway 5. A Mobile Gas Station near the Springhill Suites in the Roessleville area would make a great choice.

Flagrant Airport Rental Fees…

If you’ve been on this site a few times then you probably have noticed that I’ve done quite a bit of research on a lot of different airports. To make sure I have my facts straight, I’ve checked out a lot of official airport websites and for the most part they’re all the same. However, upon checking out what Albany International Airport had to say about its rental car services, I noticed a large disclaimer that states that the airport charges a fee on all rentals even if they are reservations. The surprise here wasn’t that they charge a fee, most airports do, it’s that they are so forthcoming about said fee. Make sure you take a look at your final receipt and make note how much the airport fee is, because it is either going to be ridiculously high or really low. They wouldn’t advertise it if their fees weren’t different in some way, shape or form. Don’t let it deter you from grabbing a rental car at the airport, just be a bit more mindful about the overall cost of your rental and make a mental note for next time.

Other Albany Airport Rental Car Considerations…

The Albany Airport overall rental car costs will be comparable to just about any other New York State rental car option. The Rochester Airport is about four hours to the West. You can get there via I-90, and if you’re torn between flying into either one, you should expect that rental car prices are about the same.

Finally, we want to thank you for visiting our site. We sure hope that you learned something about renting a car at the Albany Airport!!